William f



(No ModeL) W. F. WEISGERBER.

CIRCUIT CLOSER FOR PRIMARY ELECTRIC CLOCKS.

Patented June 9, 1885.

N. Pneus, Pmnmmngmpher, wamingmn, D4 c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM F. VETSGERBER, OF NEVYORK, N. Y.

CIRCUIT-CLOSER FOR PRIMARY ELECTRIC CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,534, dated June 9, 1885.'

(No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM F. Wnrsenn- BER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Circuit-@losers for Primary Electric Clocks, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to a device for automatically closing an electric circuit at the end of every minute and also at the end of every hour, said circuit or circuits being immediately broken again, so that no battery-power is wasted.

The peculiar and novel construction of my circuit-closer is pointed out in the following specification and claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a front view when the circuit or circuits are closed. Fig. 2 is a similar view when the circuit or circuits are open. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section in the plane x x, Fig. l. Fig. L is a face view of the gravitating stop of the minute circuit-closer detached.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, the letter A designates the frame which forms the bearings for the different arbors of a clock mechanism. The pendulum B swings on an arbor, a, which carries the anchor C.

D is the escapement-wheel, which is mounted on an arbor, b, and which is so constructed that it makes one revolution for every minute. The arbor b, therefore, may be termed the second-hand arbor;77 but it will be readily understood that it is not absolutely requisite that this secondhand arbor shall be the same as the arbor which carries the escapement-wheel The arbor b is connected by a system of gearing with the arbor c so that this last-named arbor makes one revolution for every hour,

On the arbor c is mounted the minute-hand of the clock.

The anchor-arbor a carries an arm, E, and on the arbor b is iirmly secured a disk, F, which is provided with a notch, d, and with a gravitating stop, c. This stop turns loosely on the arbor b, so that it can oscillate thereon, its oscillating motion being limited by two pins, ffo. In the position shown in Fig. 1

the gravitating stop rests upon the pin f, and in the position shown in Fig. 4 it rests upon the pin f O. rllhe arm eo of said stop projects slightly beyond the circumference of the disk F; and on the inside of this arm is a notch, 6*, which registers with the notch cl in the disk when the gravitating stop bears against the pin f.

On the circumference of the disk F rests a dog, g, which is secured to the inner end of a lever, G, the fulcrum of which is on a pivot, go, secured in the frame A, and which is so balanced that the dog g bears upon the disk F and drops into the notch d by its own gravity whenever it has a chance to do so.

On the lever G is secured a bell-crank lever, H, which swings loosely on its pivot 7L, and the horizontal arm of which bears upon a pin, ho, secured in the lever G, while its vertical arm is provided with a shoulder, r.

On the outer end of the lever G is secured an arm, I, of ivory, hard rubbcr,'or other bad conductor of electricity, and from this arm projects a metallic pin, i, across two contactpoints, j j, which are insulated from each other and secured to an arm, J, extending from the frame A. One of these contactpoints connects by a wire, 10, with one pole of an electric battery and the other connects by a wire. 11, with the opposite pole of said battery, so that whenever the metallic pin t' is depressed upon both contact-points the circuit of the battery is closed. As long as the dog g bears upon the circumference of the disk F the pin t' does not touch the contactpoints j j, and in order to be able to adjust the position of this pin the insulating arm l, which carries the same, is fastened to the lever G by means of a set-screw, fi".

The disk F revolves in the direction of the arrow marked on it in Fig. l, and when it reaches the position shown in Fig. 2 the dog g drops into the notch el of the disk, the bellcrank. lever l-I assumes the position shown in Fig. 2, and, as the pendulum swings in the direction oi' the arrow marked near it in Fig. 2, the arm E, which extends from the pendulum-arbor, is brought to bear upon the shoulderh* of the bell-crank lever H, the outer end of the lever G is depressed, the pin/ is brought down upon the contact-pointsj j, and the circuit is closed. At the same time the dog g is IOO raised out of the notch eZ, and as soon as this takes place the gravitating`stop e drops into the position shown in Fig. 4, and the arm co prevents the dog 'from again entering they notch in the disk, since said dog can only fall into the notch in the aforesaid disk when the notch or the cut-out portion of the gravitating stop e is opposite the notch in the disk, as is indicated in Fig. 2. As soon as the dog f/ has assumed the position shown in Fig. 4, or the arm e@ of the stop e rests beneath the dog, the circuit is closed, as already stated, and as soon as the dog passes from the position above the arm co the circuit is broken, and the upper end of the bell-crank lever is thrown toward the end of the arm E, but not enough to be engaged by it while the dog g rests on the edge of the disk F. In this manner the lever is made to clear the path of the arm E, and the circuit is held broken until the arm bears again upon the lever H and raises it from the notch in the disk, to bring the arm c@ on the gravitating stop beneath the dog g.

It has heretofore bee-n stated that the arm co of the gravitating stop e projects slightly beyond the circumference of the disk F. When this disk approaches the position shown in Fig. 2, the gravitating stop has a tendency to drop into contact with the pin fo,- but the dog bears against the inner edge of the arm e", and holds the stop back to the position shown in Fig. 2, so that it (the dog) is free to drop into the notch Z of the disk; but when the dog is raised by the action of the arm E on the bell-crank lever H, the arm co of the gravitating stop is carried beneath the dog, as already stated, and the dog is prevented from dropping baekinto the notch (Z.

The metallic pin Z may be so adjusted that it bears upon the contact-points jj as long as the dog g bears upon the projecting edge of the arm e0, and in this ease the circuit will remain closed until the arm eO clears the dog and allows the same to drop down upon the circumference of the disk.

lf the arbor b makes one revolution per minute, the circuit of the wires 10 and 11 is closed once at the end of every minute. In order to close another circuit at the end of every complete revolution of the minute-hand arbor c, a disk, K, is firmly mounted on this arbor. This disk is provided with a notch, 7s, and from its inner face projects a pin, ko.. Over said disk is situated a dog, g', secured to the inner end of a lever G, which has its fulcrum on a pivot, Z, fastened in the frame A, and which is so balanced that the dog g has a tendency to bear upon the circumference of the disk K by its own gravity. On the lever G is mounted a bell-crank lever, H, which swings loosely on a pivot, ZL, and the horizontal arm of which carries a pin, h2, which bears upon the edge of the lever G. rlhe vertical arm of this bell-erank lever is provided with a shoulder, hit. To the outer end of the lever G is secured an arm, I, of ivory, hard rubber, or other bad conductor of electricity, and in this arm is fastened a metallic pin, fi, which extends across two contact-points, j j. These contact-points areinsulated from each other, and they are supported by an arm, J, extending from the frame A. One of the contact-points connect-s by a wire 12, with one and the other by a wire, 13, with the opposite pole of an electric battery. XV ith the disk K and dog g is combined a gravitating stop, c', which is suspended from a pivot, Z, secured in the frame A,and which swings freely on this pivot, being so balanced that it has a tendency to assume the position shown in Fig. 1. this stop is bent inward, so that it extends behind the disk K and is in the path of the pin ko projecting from the inner face of said disk. lhe lever G extends behind the stop c, and from said lever extends a pin, a, which bears upon a shoulder,o,of the stop c when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1. The disk K revolves in the direction of the arrow marked on it in Fig. 1, and when the pin 7./:0 strikes the lower end of the stop c said stop is forced back, so as to release the pin a and allow the dog g to drop down upon the circumference of the disk K. 1When the notch k comes beneath the dog,the dog drops down to the position shown in Fig. 2, and by this motion the shoulder 7bit" of the bell-crank lever H is carried beneath the pin ILO of the lever G, and since both dogs, g and g, have droppcdinto the notches in their respective disks, the arm E, by acting on the shoulder it* of the bell-crank lever H, depresses the outer end of the lever G as well as the outer end of the lever G, the pin fi is brought to bear upon the contact-pointsjj, and the circuit through the wires 12 and 13 is closed. By depressing the outer end ofthe lever G the dog g is raised out of the notch Zt', and the stop c swings inward, so that its shoulder o catches beneath the pin a and retains the dog in the position shown in Fig. l. In fact, all the parts are restored to the position shown in this figure, the pin i being moved away from the contact-points j j, so that the circuit through the wires 12 and 13 is broken the same as the circuit through the wires 10 and 1l. By the action of the dog g the disk K and the parts connected there-Y with the circuit through the wires 12 and 13 is closed once every hour, the disk K being mounted on or geared together with the minutehand arbor c of a clock.

ln the example shown in the drawings the contact-points y' j j j are supported by independent elastic arms, so that when the pins z' t" are depressed they are sure to make contact. rlhe same object may, however, be attained by other means, and l do not confine myself in this respect to the lirecise construction shown in the drawings.

It must also be remarked that the gravitating stop c performs substantially the same function as the gravitating stop e; but the last-named stop has certain advantages in its superior compactness and simplicity of con-v The lower end of IOO IIO

IZO

struction, and in its capability to keep the circuit through the wires 10 and 1I closed for a prolonged period of time when this is desirable, as hereinbefore explained.

It will also be readily understood that instead of the bell-crank levers H H simple arms might be used rmly attached to the levers G G', or a tappet of any other form could be substituted, which would perform the same object.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, with an arbor and with the clock mechanism which imparts to this arbor arevolving motion, of a disk mounted on or geared together with said arbor, the notch formed in said disk, the lever G, the dog formed on or secured to the inner end of this lever and being balanced so as to have a tendency to bear down upon the disk, the metallic pin attached to the outer end of this lever, the tappet H, secured to said lever, and the arm E.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, with an arbor, and with the clock mechanism which imparts to this arbor a revolving motion, of a disk mounted on or geared together with said arbor, the notch formed in said disk, the lever G, the dog formed on or secured to the inner end of this lever and being balanced so as to have a tendency to bear down upon the disk, the metallic pin attached to the outer end of this lever, the gravitating stop, the tappet H, secured to said lever, and the arm E.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, with an arbor, and with the clock mechanism which imparts to this arbor a revolving motion, of a disk mounted on or geared together with said arbor, the notch formed in said disk, the gravitating stop mounted loosely on the arbor which carries the disk and situated close to said disk, the notch formed inthe gravitating stop, the lever G, the dog formed on or secured to the inner end of this lever and being balanced so as to have a tendency to bear down upon the disk, the metallic pin attached to the outer end of this lever, the tappet H, secured to said lever, and the arm E.

4c. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, with an arbor, and with the clock mechanism which imparts to this arbor a revolving motion, of a disk mounted on or geared together with said arbor, the notch formed in said disk, the gravitating stop mounted loosely on the arbor which carries the disk and situated close to said disk, the notch formed in the gravitating stop, the arm co projecting from said stop beyond the circumference of the disk, the lever G, the dog formed on or secured to the inner end of this lever and being balanced so as to have a tendency to bear down upon the disk, the metallic pin attached to the outer end of this lever, the tappet H, secured to said lever, and the arm E.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described,with the second-hand arbor b and minute-hand arbor c, and with the clock mechanism for imparting motion to these arbors, of the disk F, mounted on or geared together with the arbor by the lever G, the po sition of which is governed by the disk F,the circuit-closing pin z', secured in said lever, the tappet H, the pin ho, the disk K, mounted on or geared together with the arbor c, the lever G, the position of which is governed by the disk K, the circuit-closing pin i', the tappet H', and the arm E for actuating simultaneously the circuit-closing pins i and i.

In testilnony whereof I Ahave hereunto set my hand and seal in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM F, WEISGERBER. |:L. s]

Vfitnesses:

WV. HAUFF, E. F. KAsTENHUBnn. 

